


Ace of Broken Hearts

by Katsuko



Series: Hurt/Comfort Bingo 2012 [2]
Category: Alice (2009)
Genre: Angst, Community: hc_bingo, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, JulNoWriMo, Prompt: Loss of Possessions, Stream of Consciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-02
Updated: 2012-07-02
Packaged: 2017-11-09 01:50:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/449926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katsuko/pseuds/Katsuko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She could leave the lovely clothing, the spacious room, the supposed privileges that came from being part of the Queen's suit of Hearts; it was all worthless if she knew for even one second that her Jack was endangered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ace of Broken Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://hc-bingo.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**hc_bingo**](http://hc-bingo.dreamwidth.org/) , the prompt being "loss of possessions."
> 
> BTW, see that angst warning in the tags? It's there for a reason. This won't have anything resembling a happy ending.

Duchess (whose given name was actually Katelyn, but no one had called her that since she was a child) had understood that there was a chance that she could lose everything when she had gone into the Queen of Heart's service, but a part of her had hoped she would come out in the end unscathed.

It had been a means of survival in the harsh world that Wonderland was, or at least that was what she told herself so she could sleep at night. Her only plan had been to follow the Queen's whims, do whatever she was bid to do, and try to keep Jack (oh Jack, how she loved him so, how she had loved him even back when she was little Katelyn) from doing anything that could end disastrously.

For a short time, she had been successful. Jack seemed to have no concerns about how things were running (or more accurately, _not_ running) in the Wonderland outside the casino's walls, and she had been truly pleased when the decree for their marriage had been passed. She had thought that Jack was pleased as well.

And then her Jack, her Jack whom she loved and had loved and would always love, disappeared from Wonderland altogether.

Of course, the Queen laid the blame at Duchess' feet. It could _hardly_ be the Queen's fault that her only child had apparently decided to throw in his lot with the resistance, a conclusion that was drawn when the Spades reported that the ring had gone missing around the same time as Jack Heart.

It was several months before Jack returned to Wonderland, feigning ignorance to the disappearance of the ring or the fact that there'd been any inkling that he was with the resistance movement. The Queen had likewise feigned ignorance to her son's comings and goings... and upon dismissing Jack had ordered Duchess to find out what, exactly, he had done with the ring and any information she could get regarding the resistance's movements.

And Duchess had done what she was tasked to do, while at the same time making plans to get her dear Jack out of the casino and to whatever safe harbor there may be left in Wonderland. Nothing mattered to her except for Jack's safety and well-being. She could leave the lovely (gaudy, oh by the _gods_ but she hated gold lamé!) clothing, the spacious room, the supposed privileges that came from being part of the Queen's suit of Hearts; it was all worthless if she knew for even one second that her Jack was endangered.

When the casino, the entire House of Cards, fell, she had thought that it was over. She didn't care that every material thing she owned but the clothes on her back were gone, buried under the rubble. Her Jack was safe, Alice Hamilton had brought down the regime with no more assistance than Hatter and the White Knight, and it appeared that there would be a happily ever after for everyone.

Until Duchess decided to see Alice off and walked into the room only to find Jack proposing that the human woman stay in Wonderland as his queen.

She didn't even stay to see what the answer might be. She turned on her heel and fled, running until she could run no more and dropped to her knees. The world was bleary and wet, and it was several minutes before she realized that she was peering through her own tears.

Jack would come looking for her, eventually. It was highly unlikely that Alice would stay, and even if she did it wouldn't be for Jack's sake; she had only watched them together for a brief few moments, but it was clear that the human girl's heart belonged to Hatter now. Once Alice left, there was little doubt that Hatter would follow her back to Earth. She honestly wished them all the happiness in the world, and part of her wanted to go back to give the other woman her well-wishes on the love she had found.

But she couldn't do that, not right now. Right now, Katelyn needed to mourn everything she had lost before Duchess could put on her best happy face and take her place by Jack's side.

Of all the things she had lost, she never realized that her love and herself would be amongst the ruins.


End file.
